Because the teenage years are all about fitting in, it can be hard to feel different around friends and classmates. It’s tempting to keep your epilepsy a secret. Sometimes, though, trying to hide a condition can cause its own troubles and sometimes it just isn’t possible if your seizures aren’t controlled. You might be surprised how accepting people can be if you talk about it.

When talking to friends about your epilepsy, getting ‘the balance right’ is important, give people the right amount of information to understand it enough, but don’t make a big deal of it.

Keep it in perspective. It’s easy for epilepsy to become the main focus of your life — especially as you first learn about and start dealing with the condition. Many people find that reminding themselves that their condition is only a part of who they are, can help put things back in perspective. Keeping up with friends, activities, and everyday things helps a lot.

Definitioner

The physical and mental state of the body or one of its parts, e.g. he has a heart condition; he had a medical condition.

Focus

A local area of abnormality (in the brain), usually where seizures begin (seizure focus).

Epilepsy

A disease of the brain that is characterised by a tendency to have recurrent, usually unprovoked seizures. The seizures are a result of sudden abnormal electrical activity in the brain. The type of seizure will depend on where it starts and spreads within the brain.